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Twsbi Mini Ef - First Impressions

mvarela

By mvarela
in Fountain Pen Reviews

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mvarela Extremely Rare

mvarela

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So, yesterday I got my TWSBI Mini EF, and after playing with it for a few hours, here are my first impressions. I'm rather new to FPs, so I don't feel able to provide a full review...

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/9519922776_87e4d7c6ad_h.jpg

 

 

Some pictures of it:

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/9517136177_ca26199d59_b.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/9519923946_43d576a717_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7381/9519924472_a61f33c07c_b.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/9519925246_1917c3201f_b.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7310/9517138863_32ea691456_b.jpg

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Mathemagician Near Mint

Mathemagician

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sorry you seemed to have a hard starter, I love my Mini and have found that wet inks work really well in it, as long as they arent too wet. I personally had been using Bad Blue Heron and now 54th Massachusetts in it and have had no problems, though borealis black feathered oddly. Gorgeous handwriting by the way, really a great review.

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Cyclopentadiene Mint

Cyclopentadiene

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Blimey that handwriting is amazing! Superb mini review. Appreciate the pics too :)

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mbankirer Extremely Rare

mbankirer

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Nice review. Great penmanship!

As for the hard start and skipping....did you rinse out the pen before inking it? A lot of clean water with a drop of dish washing soap helps get all the dusts and oils out and flushes the nib?

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mvarela Extremely Rare

mvarela

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sorry you seemed to have a hard starter, I love my Mini and have found that wet inks work really well in it, as long as they arent too wet. I personally had been using Bad Blue Heron and now 54th Massachusetts in it and have had no problems, though borealis black feathered oddly. Gorgeous handwriting by the way, really a great review.

Thanks for dropping by and for the tip. I will try some wetter ink, and see how that goes. If it is still dry, I'll try adjusting the nib (though I find that a bit intimidating, I must say)

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mvarela Extremely Rare

mvarela

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Nice review. Great penmanship!

As for the hard start and skipping....did you rinse out the pen before inking it? A lot of clean water with a drop of dish washing soap helps get all the dusts and oils out and flushes the nib?

Thanks!

I did rinse it quite thoroughly before inking it.

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warblerick Extremely Rare

warblerick

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I have the same pen, with a fine nib. I now have it inked with Organics Studio Charles Darwin (black) which is billed as waterproof and fast dry. I really don't care too much about the waterproof quality, but the fast dry is great. Also, with this ink, it seems very wet coming out of the pen, so much so that the fine nib behaves more like a medium, but dries instantly. Odd but I find it very satisfying. You might try this ink in your EF mini. I think it would eliminate your skipping and hard starts, if you didn't mind it writing like a fine nib instead of an extra fine. I use mine to write daily notes in my Rhodia #11 pads which are pretty small (2.9x4.1 in.), so my writing has to be fairly small also.

 

I also have the pen in the clear demo in 1.1 stub, and have had no issues with skipping or hard starts in either.

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mvarela Extremely Rare

mvarela

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I have the same pen, with a fine nib. I now have it inked with Organics Studio Charles Darwin (black) which is billed as waterproof and fast dry. I really don't care too much about the waterproof quality, but the fast dry is great. Also, with this ink, it seems very wet coming out of the pen, so much so that the fine nib behaves more like a medium, but dries instantly. Odd but I find it very satisfying. You might try this ink in your EF mini. I think it would eliminate your skipping and hard starts, if you didn't mind it writing like a fine nib instead of an extra fine. I use mine to write daily notes in my Rhodia #11 pads which are pretty small (2.9x4.1 in.), so my writing has to be fairly small also.

 

I also have the pen in the clear demo in 1.1 stub, and have had no issues with skipping or hard starts in either.

Thanks for the tip! I'll try to get my hands on some of that ink...

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nomadhacker Rare

nomadhacker

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Nice review and again, very nice handwriting.

 

I'll agree with the other posters. Sometimes newer pens need a little extra flushing. My Lamy Studio for instance. Took several times of flushing to get it going without hard starts and skips. A little dish soap goes a long way :)

 

Also, if it does keep up hard starting on you, get in touch with Philip from TWSBI. The company is really good about helping with adjustments and getting you up and running.

http://stubblefield.me Inks Available for Sample Exchange: Noodler's Black, Blue Black, Apache Sunset, Private Reserve Black Cherry, Sherwood Green, Tanzanite, Velvet Black, De Atramentis Aubergine, J. Herbin Lie de The, 1670 Rouge Hematite, Bleu Ocean, Lamy Turquoise, Rohrer & Klingner Salix, Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black, OS Red Rubber Ball, Parker Quink Blue (India version)

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coffeetoofull Rare

coffeetoofull

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I read a FPN Topic on TWSBI pens, which said that sometimes air is captured in the filling process. This can result in making the ink difficult to start. I own two TWSBI Minis, and after using them for sometime have no problem with start-ups or a continuous line. At first I tried filling my TWSBI about 2/3 full. This allowed the pen to break-in, and now it works perfectly.

Best Writings To You, coffeetoofull

Edited by coffeetoofull
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mvarela Extremely Rare

mvarela

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Nice review and again, very nice handwriting.

 

I'll agree with the other posters. Sometimes newer pens need a little extra flushing. My Lamy Studio for instance. Took several times of flushing to get it going without hard starts and skips. A little dish soap goes a long way :)

 

Also, if it does keep up hard starting on you, get in touch with Philip from TWSBI. The company is really good about helping with adjustments and getting you up and running.

 

 

I read a FPN Topic on TWSBI pens, which said that sometimes air is captured in the filling process. This can result in making the ink difficult to start. I own two TWSBI Minis, and after using them for sometime have no problem with start-ups or a continuous line. At first I tried filling my TWSBI about 2/3 full. This allowed the pen to break-in, and now it works perfectly.

Best Writings To You, coffeetoofull

 

Thanks guys! I'll give it another good flush with some soapy water, and see if that helps. I'll also try a wetter ink, just in case.

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Cyclopentadiene Mint

Cyclopentadiene

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I must admit whereas my Vac700 was raring to go the 580 bold nib took a few days working in. Other than that plain sailing.

 

Best wishes,

Badger

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mvarela Extremely Rare

mvarela

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A couple more pictures of the Mini. After using it for a few months, I only appreciate it more and more. The skipping and hard starts were due to the PR Tanzanite, apparently. I've since had it inked with Quink Blue/Black and Diamine Damson, and it writes flawlessly.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7413/11340591055_4be9054d50_h.jpghttp://farm6.staticflickr.com/5518/11340589435_ceab82e39e_h.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7295/11340692604_136040de8d_h.jpg

Edited by mvarela
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MannyBA Near Mint

MannyBA

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Very nice handwriting indeed.

Glad you are happy with your mini.

I have a TWSBI 580 and a VAC 700 and am very happy with them. I've been thinking about getting a smaller pen to carry in my jeans pockets so the mini might be it.................

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